Boring device



Aug. 12, 1969 P, LENTZEN ET AL. 3,460,858

BORING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9, 1967 INVENTORS: PAUL LENTZEN BY JAKUB WULTERS OLLMA F g AT-r-orLNsr-as Aug. 12, 1969 P. LENTZEN ET AL 3,460,858

BORING DEVICE Filed Feb. 9, 1967 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS:

PAUL LENTZEN BY JAKUB WULTERS nTToLNess Aug. 12, 1969 P. LENTZEN ET AL 3,460,858

BORING DEVICE Filed Feb. 9, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS: PAUL LENTZEN BY JAKUBWULTERS United States Patent 3,460,858 BORING DEVICE Paul Lentzen, Erkelenz, Rhineland, and Jakob Wolters, Beeck, Rhineland, Germany, assignors to Alfred Wirth & Co. KG., Erkelenz, Rhineland, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed Feb. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 614,896 Claims priority, application Germany, Aug. 19, 1966,

Int. CLF16117/00, 33/16 US. Cl. 28598 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A boring device has a boring rod and a discharge head provided with a casing. The casing has a passage for the rinsing and a cover with an air passage. An insert member is located within the casing and has an air passage con nected by a resilient tensioning sleeve with the air passage in the cover. A rotary part carried the boring rod and is engaged by two groups of seal elements, an opening between the two groups being in communication with an air passage provided in the rotary part.

This invention relates to a boring device and refers more particularly to a boring device for use in an air-raising boring or drilling process.

The invention is particularly concerned with a boring device of this type which is provided with a discharge head having a stationary casing which can be hung upon a hoisting device and which is provided with an air inlet and an outlet for the rinsing carrying and bored out particles, the discharge head further having a part rotatably mounted inside the casing for connection to a hollow boring rod carrying air conduits.

The so-called air-raising boring or drilling process is a counter-rinsing process wherein air blown into the interior of a hollow boring rod diminishes the weight of the rinsing column in the boring rod relatively to the water column in the hole being bored to such an extent that the rinsing column rises with great speed in the boring rod. Thus the rinsing column carrying the bored out particles is moved upwardly through the boring rod under considerable pressure.

The boring rod can carry one or more air conduits, particularly in the shape of tubes which extend outside of and along the tubular rod. Difficult problems arise from the fact that two media, namely, air on the one hand, and the rinsing carrying and bored out particles on the other hand, must be guided separately from each other without creating disturbances and losses. This applies to the boring rod and more particularly also to the discharge head. The latter must provide for the rotation of the boring rod while simultaneously receiving the weight load and must carry out at the same time two functions, namely, to receive the rinsing having the bored out particles from the rotating boring rod and guide it through a stationary casing with hose connections and, furthermore, to transmit air supplied to the stationary casing without losses to conduits provided for that purpose upon the rotating boring rod. In addition to other influences, the existence of a relative movement between the parts of the discharge head and also the frictional effect of the rinsing carrying the bored out particles, make it extremely difficult to provide a good seal of the air passage against outer air and other sections of the discharge head or boring rod, and to separate it from the rinsing current, and yet construct the various parts so that they will last for an adequate time period.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a boring device of the described type which will satisfy the 3,460,858 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 above-stated requirements in a manner suitable for practical operation.

Another object is the provision of means in a discharge head of a boring device for the sealing of air current and the rinsing current without losses and pressure drop and in such manner that the two currents are completely separated from each other.

A further object is to provide sealing means in a discharge head of a boring device which are so constructed that the wear remains small.

A still further object is the provision of a discharge head of a boring device which has a stable bearing capable of withstanding high loads with good precision for rotary movements.

Yet another object is to provide a simple connection of the boring rod to the discharge head of a boring device, as well as a simple connection of the boring rod parts, and yet to provide perfect sealing conditions.

Other objects will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the accomplishment of the objectives of the present invention it was found desirable to provide a discharge head having two groups of sealing elements adjoining a frictional surface of the rotary part of the discharge head, means being provided between the two groups of sealing elements for the passage of air from a conduit located in the stationary part of the discharge head to a conduit provided in the rotary part of the discharge head. It is advantageous for each of the two groups of sealing elements to include at least one collar seal, preferably a cap collar seal.

A very advantageous construction of the present invention consists in that the rotary part of the discharge head contains a hollow axially extending bushing the outer surface of which constitutes the sliding surface for the sealing elements and is provided with an air passage.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, besides the two groups of sealing elements at least one further sealing element is provided between a stationary part of the discharge head and a rotary part of the discharge head. If the rotary part of the discharge head is provided with the hollow bushing of the above-described type, then the front side of the bushing preferably engages this additional sealing element.

According to a further feature of the present invention the stationary discharge head casing has an insert member forming an air channel and used for fixing the sealing elements. This insert is preferably provided with channels through which a lubricant can be transmitted to the sealing elements.

It is advantageous to provide a clamping sleeve with a sealing ring at the connection of the stationary part of the casing to the insert serving for the passage of air.

In accordance with the present invention the boring rod is provided with clamping sleeves and sealing rings at the connections of the air conduit passage from one rod pipe to another one; in addition, a further sealing ring is provided between two interengaging rod pipes.

The boring device of the present invention is characterized by several advantageous features. There is a complete separation in the discharge head of the air guiding passage from the bearing on the one hand and from the discharge flow on the other hand. The air guiding passage with the connection between the stationary discharge head part and the rotary one, is sealed so effectively that there are no losses. The sealing elements are so well protected and can operate under such advantageous conditions that a long life is assured to the device.

The rinsing carrying the bored out particles can be conducted directly and without hindrance through the discharge head. Seals are provided to prevent the rinsing from penetrating into other parts of the discharge head, so that there is no excessive wear there.

The bearing of the rotary discharge head part can be made so stable without interference from the air conduit, that it will absorb safely all occurring loads and that there can be no tipping or overturning.

The construction of the discharge head provides easy supervision and it can be manufactured and mounted without great difficulties, so that if necessary its parts can be easily replaced.

The rod for the discharge head also fulfills all requirements concerning a perfect seal and a simple connection of the individual pipes with each other and with the discharge head.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing by way of example only, preferred embodiments of the inventive ideas.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is partly a side view of and partly a section through a discharge head of a boring device con structed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a rod pipe connection in two different sections, the left side showing a section through the screw connection, while the right side is a section through the pipe connection.

FIGURE 3 is similar to FIG. 2 but shows a somewhat different construction.

FIGURE 4 is partly a side view and partly a section illustrating the operation of the boring device.

The discharge head 1 shown in FIG. 1 has an upper casing portion 2 provided with a cover 3, and a lower casing portion 4. The cover 3 is removably connected with the upper casing portion 2 by screws 5 while the upper casing portion 2 is removably connected with the lower casing portion 4 by screws 6. A quarter bend 7 is fixed by welding to the cover 3 and is provided with a cover 7a which is screwed thereon. The quarter bend 7 serves for'the removal of the rising flow of the rinsing carrying the bored out particles; it is provided with metal sheets 8 which are welded to it and which carry a pin 9 used for hanging the discharge head upon a hoisting device. The interior of the quarter bend 7 may be provided with a jet nozzle (not shown) which can be supplied through a connecting joint 10. The cover 3 is also provided with an .air supplying pipe 11 by means of which compressed air supplied by an air compressor (not shown) is introduced into the discharge head 1.

A rotary discharge head part 12 is located in the space within the immovable casing portions 2 and 4 and is supported by axial pendulum roller bearings 13 which are pre-tensioned by plate springs 14. This provides a stable bearing support with good rotation precision which is not affected by swingings and blows.

An insert member .15 which is formed of two welded parts provides an air conducting passage 40 within the discharge head 1. The insert 15 is firmly fixed between the cover 3 and upper part 2 of the casing. A sleeve 16 which is a resiilient tensioning sleeve is located between the cover 3 and insert 15, namely, it fits in the alined bores of these parts and covers the joining; it is enclosed by a sealing ring 17. Furthermore, two round cord rings 18 and 19 are located between the insert 15 and the upper casing part 2.

The round cord rings may be replaced by other suitable seals.

A further sealing ring 20 which may be an Oring or a cord ring, is provided between the insert 15 and the cover 3.

An outer bushing part 23a which extends axially is fixed to the rotary discharge head part 12 by screws 21, a sealing ring 22 being located between these parts. The

outer bushing part 23a along with an inner bushing part 2312 located between the outer cover part and the lower casing part 4 constitute a hollow bushing 23, an additional seal being provided bya round cord ring 24. The outer bushing part 23a of this bushing is provided with openings 25 through which flows air coming from the passage 40. This air can reach an outlet bore hole 26 to which the .air conduit of the boring rod is connected, as will be described in detail hereinafter.

Two groups of seal elements close the air conducting passage above and below the openings 25, the sliding surface for these seals being constituted by the outer surface of the bushing part 2311. The upper group includes two cover sleeve seals 27 and 28 which are separated by a supporting ring 29 and jointly with that ring are fixed between the cover 3 and the insert 15. In the example illustrated, the lower group has only one cover sleeve seal 30 which is fixed by a supporting ring 31 and screws 32 at the lower end of the insert 15.

The insert .15 has channels 33 and 34 through which a lubricant can be transmitted to the radially extending bores of the supporting ring 29 and thus to the cover sleeves 27 and 28; it can also flow to the chamber 35 and thus to the cover sleeve 30. The casing carries outer nipples 36 for the lubricant.

Thus the rinsing current carrying the bored out particles has at its disposal .a large inner passage 37 within the discharge head, so that the rinsing current is not impeded in any way. To provide additional seals in the adjacent sections of the discharge head the cover 3 carries a sealing ring 38 provided with a slide sheet 38a engaged by the front surface of the cover portion 32a of the hollow bushing 23.

This construction provides a discharge head which is fully adequate for all requirements of boring operations, which has a stable bearing for the rotary discharge head part with the connected boring rod and which is characterized by a perfect seal for the rinsing current as well as for the air current and by a complete separation of these two currents.

The present invention also provides the same perfect sealing conditions for the rod used together with the discharge head.

FIG. 2 shows a construction wherein the rod pipes a and 501) have flat front surfaces which fully engage each other and are joined at their flanges 51a and 51b by screws 52. By way of example, six such screws can be used. The front surface of one end of the pipe 50a is provided with an annular bored in groove 53 receiving an O-ring 54 which is used as .a seal and which securely prevents the penetration of the rinsing to the outside as well as the penetration of air toward the interior. The end surface of the pipe 50b located opposite the ring 54 is fiat; however, the opposite end surface of the pipe 5% which is not shown in the drawing, has a seal-carrying groove corresponding to the groove 53.

One or several air pipes 55 extend outside of and along the pipes 50a and 5011; the ends of the pipes 55 are welded to bores provided inthe flanges 51a and 5112. For the sake of simplicity of illustration only one such pipe is shown in the drawing. Preferably two air pipes are provided at diametrically opposite locations. A sleeve, preferable a slit tensioning sleeve 56 is inserted into alined bores in the location between two pipes. An 0- ring 57 encloses the sleeve 57 in a manner similar to that of connecting the cover 3 with the insert 15 of the discharge head 1 (FIG. 1).

The two rod pipes are connected with each other in the same manner in which a rod pipe is connected with the discharge head. For the connection to the discharge head the pipe 50b, for example, is replaced by the rotary part 12 of the discharge head (FIG. 1) and the end of the pipe 50a is attached to the part 12 by screws screwed into the threaded bore holes 30 of the rotary part 12. The seal 54 of the pipe 50a will then lie against the lower surface of the rotary part 12 of the discharge head, while a tight connection of the air pipe 55 with the outlet bore 26 is provided by a sleeve corresponding to the tensioning sleeve 56 and an O-ring.

The above description is essentially applicable to the construction shown in FIG. 3 which includes two rod pipes 60a and 60b provided with air pipes 65. The two pipes have flanges 61a and 61b joined by screws 62. In this construction the air conduits are attached by our sleeves 66 and sealing rings 67. However, in distinction to the construction shown in FIG. 2, the opposed interengaging end surfaces of the two pipes 60a and 66b are not flat, but are provided with interengaging recessed portions 63. In this construction there is also an O-ring 64 serving as a seal.

When a discharge head is to be used with these pipes, its rotary part must be shaped in accordance with the illustrated end of the pipe 60b, namely, it must be provided with a recessed portion adapted to engage the recessed portion of the pipe which is to be connected thereto.

Rod pipes of the described type provide perfect sealing conditions for the rinsing as well as for the air flow. Thus the described rod pipes and the described discharge head provide an efiective device for carrying out boring and drilling operations, whereby these operations need not be limited to the air-raising boring, but if desired, can include at the same time a jet boring process, for example, by the use of a jet nozzle built into the quarter bend of the discharger head, as illustrated in FIG. 1. By way of example, the procedure may consist in boring the upper end of a bore hole by the jet boring process while thereupon further boring is carried out by the air-raising boring process.

FIGURE 4 which illustrates the operation of the boring device, shows a part of an apparatus 70 having an underframe 72 provided with wheels 71 and carrying the devices 73 necessary for the boring operations. They include a compressor which may be driven by a diesel motor. The underframe 72 also carries a winding mechanism 74 with drums carrying cables for hoisting the boring device. The cables are guided in the usual manner over rollers located at the upper end of a pole or jib (not shown).

The discharge head 1 hangs by its upper non-rotating part from a hook 76 while the lower rotary part 12 carries a boring rod 80. The boring rod 80' is rotated by means of rotary table 77 and at its lower end it carries a boring chisel 78.

Two air pipes 85 are provided outside of the boring rod 80. Compressed air supplied by the compressor of the apparatus 70 is transmitted through the conduit 79 to the discharge head 1 and thence into the air pipe 85. At the lower end of the pipe 85 compressed air passes through the check valves 82 into the hollow boring rod 80 so that the rinsing liquid carrying the particles bored out by boring chisel 78 is pushed upwardly, as indicated by the arrows. The rinsing liquid carrying the bored out particles flows from the discharge head through the bend 7 and a hose 83 connected therewith to a container 84. There the bored out particles are deposited, while the rinsing liquid flows back to the boring passage 86.

It is apparent that the examples described above have been given solely by way of illustration and not by way of limitation and that they are subject to many variations and modifications within the scope of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are to be included within the scope of present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a boring device having a discharge head and a boring rod, said discharge head having a casing with a passage for the rinsing and a cover having an air passage, a rotary rod-carrying part carrying said rod and located within said casing, an insert member located within said casing and fixed thereto, an upper group of seal elements carried by said insert member and frictionally engaging said rotary part, a lower group of seal elements carried by said insert member and frictionally engaging said rotary part, an opening being located between said groups of seal elements, said rotary part having an air passage communicating with said opening, said insert member also having an air passage communicating with said opening, a resilient longitudinally split tensioning sleeve connecting the air passage in said cover with the air passage in said insert member, and a sealing ring enclosing said tensioning sleeve and sealingly positioned at the juncture of said cover and said casing and means providing communication between said boring rod and said air passage.

2. In a boring device having a discharge head and a boring rod, said discharge head having a casing with a passage for the rinsing and a cover having an air passage, a rotary part located within said casing and having a lower portion connected with said boring rod, said boring rod comprising a plurality of rod pipes having interengaging and interconnected endportions, aligned air pipes fixed to outer surfaces of said rod pipes, seal rings between said end portions and tensioning sleeves between adjacent ends of said air pipes, an insert member located within said casing and fixed thereto, an upper group of seal elements carried by said insert member and frictionally engaging said rotary part, a lower group of seal elements carried by said insert member and frictionally engaging said rotary part, an opening being located between said groups of seal elements, said rotary part having an air passage communicating with said opening, said insert member also having an air passage communicating with said opening, a resilient longitudinally split tensioning sleeve connecting the air passage in said cover with the air passage in said insert member, and a sealing ring enclosing said tensioning sleeve and sealingly positioned at the juncture of said cover and said casing, and first means providing communication between said boring rod and said pipes and second means providing communication between said pipes and said air passage in said rotary part.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,292,845 8/1942 Pratt 285363 X 2,472,061 6/1949 BlOSS et al. 2s5 94 X 2,862,731 12/1958 Hedden etal. 285370=X 2,900,199 8/1959 Logan 285-363 3,077,358 2/1963 Costa 175 205 X 3,098,662 7/1963 Iversen 285- X FOREIGN PATENTS 760,274 10/1956 GreatBritain.

CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner DAVE W. AROLA, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

